Coming Home
by Ominae
Summary: AU of Deadlier than the Male. Henno heads back to Iraq after he found out that Ricky, Jamie and Pete were being held captive by an Iraqi militant group instead of being killed in a bomb blast with some help on the way.


Ultimate Force: Coming Home

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Ultimate Force are under the copyright of ITV1, Rob Heyland and Chris Ryan. All other characters/references either belong to their copyright holders or are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

AU of Deadlier than the Male. Henno heads back to Iraq after he found out that Ricky, Jamie and Pete were being held captive by an Iraqi militant group instead of being killed in a bomb blast with some help on the way.

* * *

Runway, Basra International Airport, Basra, Iraq

* * *

_This looks lovely enough..._

Staff Sergeant Henry "Henno" Garvie thought, having emerged from a taxied Royal Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules alongside Corporal Louis "Louie_" _Hoffman wearing their standard British Desert DPM uniforms after the C-130J had unloaded off a FV510 Warrior tracked APC off the transport plane. The two British SAS operators had carried their black duffel bags with them.

"Nice to be back here, I guess." commented Louie. He then spoke to Henno. "You sure you'll be fine here? I mean, you just came back on active duty from counseling back at Hereford, Henno?"

"Don't worry about me, Louie." Henno sighed. "I'll be fine." He saw two Royal Army Westland Lynx AH7 choppers land nearby in Basra Airport. _Wonder if the Boss is going to see us?_

"Greetings, you two." Nearing the doorway leading to the domestic terminal, they were greeted by Colonel Aidan Dempsey with an officer from the newly reconstructed Iraqi Army. He had the rank of Major.

"Boss." Henno nodded after he gave a salute.

"Sir." Louie also gave a salute, which Dempsey acknowledged with a smile.

"Glad you two made it." Henno saluted Henno and Louie too. "Hope your afternoon arrival here from Saudi Arabia was pleasant."

"Very pleasant." Henno said sarcastically. "Is Blue Troop coming?"

"Afraid not." Dempsey replied. "MOD thinks that we may expose ourselves to the media."

"Wonderful." Henno sneered after hearing the news.

"But don't worry." Dempsey smiled at Henno. "You'll have backup to help you for the your next mission."

_Backup? What kind?_

"Come on, now." Dempsey guided Louie and Henno. "We'll head back to the Green Zone. You boys need to get some rest within our embassy ASAP. Alex and Sam went ahead of you boys to assess the situation."

"Sounds nice."

Dempsey spoke to Henno as the Iraqi officer escorted Louie towards the airport's domestic terminal entrance. "You alright Henno? You just got back from counseling a few months ago after the botched mission in Tikrit."

"Yeah, I understand." Henno replied, feeling tired. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"All right." Dempsey smirked and patted his left shoulder. "I don't want anything to happen to you on this mission, you got that?"

Henno nodded. "Understood, boss."

"Good. Better get some sleep, less I want a sleepy Henno with me tomorrow."

* * *

Aircraft Hangar, Domestic Terminal, Erbil International Airport, Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Henno, Louie and Dempsey had arrived in a 2005 Land Rover Discovery Series II SUV early in the morning in Erbil, being greeted on the spot by two armed Peshmerga soldiers armed with IZHMASH AK-74 assault rifles as well as Corporals Alex and Sam Leonard. They escorted the three SAS men towards a hangar where a few familiar people had been waiting for them.

"What the hell?" Louie was stunned when he found out who the people were inside. Henno, likewise, was made speechless at the sight of the familiar people in the hangar.

"Well, well." Former SAS Captain Dotsy Doheny grinned at Henno and Louie. "We haven't been meeting each other in a while, though it doesn't have to be like this." He sheepishly scratched his head.

"I haven't seen Henno and Louie that speechless before." Former SAS Sergeant Johnny Bell chuckled.

"Which makes it all the while..." Ex-Captain Caroline Walshe smiled, seeing Henno and Louie in the hangar, carrying a rolled-up map with her underneath her left armpit.

"Caroline." Henno greeted the brunette woman.

"Greetings, Henno." Caroline faced Louie, who was a bit stunned to see Caroline. "Well, you seemed a bit surprised to see me."

"Er, yes..." Caroline smiled at Louie's antics. "Uh, I mean no!"

"Nice to see some familiar faces around here." Pru Banks and Box 500, MI5 officers that had previously worked with Henno's Red Troop, greeted Louie and Henno as they were busy preparing comm equipment for the mission.

"Let's cut the formalities aside, shall we?" Dempsey chuckled, clapping his hands. "Anyway, it's nice to see you all again." Dempsey greeted Johnny, Dotsy and Caroline.

"Greetings, sir." Dotsy was the first to shake hands with Dempsey. Johnny and Caroline joined in a few minutes later.

"So I take it that you're all with ASE?" Dempsey asked the three ex-British Army personnel.

"ASE?" Louie asked, a bit confused on the acronym.

"ASE. Almighty Support Enterprises." Johnny explained to Louie. "It's a multinational company that hires out specialists to governments, individuals and organizations..."

"Sorta like a PMC then?" Henno asked Johnny.

"A little bit." Caroline answered. "Though it does have armed specialists, most of the jobs the company gets involve in are civilian in nature. We came here at the request of the Iraqi government and military."

"I see." Louie had seemed to understand Johnny and Caroline.

"One more thing guys." Dotsy reminded the group inside the hangar. "The SAS won't be the only ones involved in the operation to free Ricky, Jamie and Pete."

"What about it?" Henno raised an eyebrow. "Is there someone else involved?"

"I believe so." Alex Leonard told the group. "We're getting some guests here right now."

The gates of the hangar opened behind them by the Peshmerga fighters, showing two men with East Asian features around their 30s. One of them had a Type II Flecktarn uniform of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces and the other had a 3-color desert variation uniform of the Republic of Korea Army. The former had a green beret with a Sakura emblem on it while the latter had a black beret with an ROK airborne badge on it. A few minutes later, a Caucasian man in his 30s with blonde hair entered the hangar. He had a bottle green beret with the Irish Defense Forces cap badge on and wore an Irish Army Desert DPM uniform.

"What the hell?" Louie was surprised to see the two men enter. "Boss, what's the meaning of this?"

"Meet Staff Sergeant Yusuke Nogami, Staff Sergeant Goh Hae-joon and Company Sergeant Mark Coogan." Dempsey introduced the three men to everyone gathered around the long table. "Sergeant Nogami's with the recently formed Special Operations Group. Sergeant Goh with the 707th Special Mission Battalion and Sergeant Coogan's with the Army Ranger Wing." Dempsey faced Henno. "I'm sure that you're familiar with them Henno."

"Haven't seen you guys in a while since the SAS training course days, especially since your transfer to the 1st Airborne Brigade..." Henno smiled and shook hands with Nogami before he shook hands with Goh and Coogan. "Louie, get yourself over here and shake hands with the nice gentlemen." The bald sergeant shook hands next with Goh. "I don't mean to be offending you guys," Louie shook hands with Nogami and Goh likewise before he met with Coogan. "but why are the Japanese, South Koreans and the Irish involved in this...?"

"Yeah. That's been buggin' me too." Louie asked Dempsey as well. "Well maybe the South Koreans can get themselves off with a little bit of trouble, but the Japanese and Irish..." He shook his head left and right and sighed.

"You mean the fact that the Japanese has Article 9 in their Constitution, yes?" Caroline asked Louie, who immediately nodded in reply.

"I guess the same thing goes for the Irish's stance of neutrality too, right Louie?" Pru asked Louie a similar question.

"Y-yeah of course." Louie answered. "Though it be best if someone can give you some background on our next mission."

"Yesterday, a mixed Mèdecins Sans Frontières and Pharmaciens Sans Frontières Comité International group consisting of nationals from Britain, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea were conducting humanitarian work in Mosul when armed men had abducted them despite the danger posed to them." Sergeant Goh explained, his fluent English showing little hints of his Korean accent. "The Iranian was shot dead during the struggle with the Malaysian wounded, though he's recovering fine with a stable condition."

"A while ago in the morning," Box debriefed the special forces soldiers and intelligence personnel near the long table. "the same unknown group had kidnapped two PSCI International personnel in the city. One was an Irish pharmacist and the other was a Swiss volunteer. The latter didn't make it after he was killed by being shot at from behind after he escaped and tried to warn Iraqi police."

"Right now," Sam Leonard told the group on the situation. "the Iraqi government hasn't leaked this predicament out to the press yet. But we've got at least two days before word of this gets out."

"That explains your presence here..." Henno mused on Goh's explanation. "But I presume that your presence was covertly given the green light."

"It hasn't been announced yet by the major international news companies like CNN and BBC." Dotsy told Henno. "All they're picking up so far is that they're missing until now. Just enough distraction we need."

"But how?" Louie asked. "Did the Iraqi police catch one of the armed men or something?"

"Yeah. It happened after responding National Police officers engaged the gunmen in a shootout before they got away with their Irish hostage." Johnny replied. Caroline unfolded the map of the Erbil province.

"One of them was brought into custody by armed NP officers." Pru added more details to Johnny's debriefing.

"Before he died, the armed man confessed to Iraqi police that he was a member of the Jeish al-Iraq." explained Sergeant Coogan, studying the map of Erbil province.

"Meaning Army of Iraq." Henno was able to understand the group's Arabic name, having been trained to know the language aside from French and Russian.

Coogan continued to debrief the group on the hostage's location. "He also told us their hideout's location, which was formerly a mansion used by one of Saddam's loyalists back before the 2003 Iraq invasion."

"X-rays?"

"No idea yet, I'm afraid. There's no info on them."

Henno cursed under his breath.

"They've been around as of 2005." Sergeant Nogami told the gathered group, with his fluent English having a little hint of his Japanese accent like Goh. "Been responsible for using mortar attacks on the Green Zone with two carbombing attempts on the Philippine and Vietnamese embassies."

"Since last year then?" Louie asked Nogami on the information he gave out.

"Yes, that's right."

"Ok."

"Iraqi army sources indicate that the Jeish al-Iraq hasn't told the world via the internet yet of their latest antics based from the militant's confession, so there's some breathing space for the meantime." Box told Henno and Louie on the situation.

"They haven't pressed for demands as we speak." Pru added details on her own. "Right now, there's no word from various Islamic militant sites on the abductions."

"In addition to that," Dotsy continued to explain for Nogami. "they're the ones responsible for the abductions of a Filipino PSFCI volunteer last week near Erbil before he escaped back to Baghdad."

"So that's why we're here." Louie concluded, based on the facts given out. Dotsy and Johnny nodded in unison.

"Unofficially, for the meantime that is." Johnny explained to Henno and Louie the presence of Nogami and Goh in the hangar. "The MOD has relayed information about the situation to the Irish DOD, Japanese JDA and South Korean MND and they gave consent on the condition that news of their involvement wouldn't be leaked due to the severity of the situation..." He then coughed a bit before he cleared his throat. "At least until the hostages are safely rescued."

"Did negotiations fail?" Henno asked Johnny.

"I'm afraid so." Box replied to Henno. "Iraqi police and military did so, but they got a reply when they dumped the Iranian's corpse somewhere in the outskirts of Baghdad with a note saying that they refuse to negotiate with those who side with the infidels."

Henno gritted his teeth. _The sick bastards._

"The MSF's head office in Geneva and the PSFCI's in Paris also requested for ASE assistance." Dotsy told the two SAS operators. "Which seems to be the reason why we're here."

"Um..." Caroline raised a hand before Dempsey acknowledged her. "The truth is that... we're waiting for our other colleagues to arrive here too."

Loud shouting was heard outside, making everyone listen to the voices near the hangar's gate.

"Dammit! You're really that dangerous when I'm with you! Can't you drive safe and fast at once?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Caroline sighed, hearing the bickering going on from outside. _Why now?_

Two teenagers had stepped in, wearing civilian clothing and having East Asian features as well. One of them had been yelling and shouting at the other after they were in the hangar.

"Well," Johnny felt embarrassed about the two teens fighting with each other. "these guys are the reinforcements that ASE has provided for the mission."

"You mean these two?" Louie was shocked to see the teens. "But these guys look like they're still in high school or something..."

"Yeah, that can't be right." Sam was too confused by their presence too.

"Don't judge them by their looks..." Dotsy grinned, before he pointed to one of the teens with a white shirt and jeans. "Meet Satoru Ikaruga, from ASE Japan."

"Ikaruga?" Henno was surprised to hear the name. "I hear that you're the famous genius of vehicle driving."

"A ha ha ha..." Satoru scratched his head. "That's nothing, really."

"So we're going to work with some vehicle expert?" Alex sighed, hearing Satoru's name. "No big deal really."

"Name's Kyle Yung." introduced the other teen wearing a green shirt and brown pants. "I'm from ASE Philippines."

"Hey, Kyle." Pru greeted Kyle, who nodded in reply. Box greeted Kyle with a nod of his own.

"He's one of ASE's combat specialists..." Caroline told Henno and Louie. "Orphaned when his plane from Sydney to Manila was hit by a stray Indonesian Army SAM during the 1990s in the final years of his elementary life before he was found alive around 2001 in East Timor, fighting alongside FALINTIL guerrillas."

"So he stayed alive by being trained to fight the TNI huh?" Henno stared at Kyle. "Nice story, reminds me of an action movie that I should see soon..."

"Well." Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have time to discuss my biography with ya for the meantime, so let's just get to work..." _What the f-ck's he saying?_

"By the way," Caroline asked Satoru. "where is he?"

"He didn't want to ride with me." Satoru replied. "So he took another vehicle to get here."

"Which should be just about... now." Kyle raised at the Casio wristwatch on his left arm.

"I'm sorry, my lady!" A man with a black bandanna, tactical vest and sneaking suit rushed inside the hangar, greeting Caroline like it was a normal day. The British woman sighed, wanting to punch the blonde man as much as she can.

"That happens to be Clever Owl." Kyle introduced to the group with his right thumb. "He's from ASE America and a self-proclaimed James Bond wannabee."

"In short, an infiltration specialist." Dempsey walked up to Owl and slapped him on his back. "Pleasure to meet you, son."

"Charmed..." Owl chuckled.

"Is their anyone else coming?" Henno asked Caroline, who replied by shaking her head. "Well, good. At least we can get started on the plan to rescue the hostages..."

"Good call indeed..." Sam chuckled at Henno, who simply stared at him before he got to plan on the mission.

* * *

"You sure you'll be fine?"

Caroline asked as she watched Kyle prepare his firearms from a long table used to map out the destination area for the joint SAS/SOG/707th SMB/ARW/ASE task force operation. Henno, Louie, Johnny and Dotsy had previously prepared their weapons a few minutes ago as Kyle had changed his clothes. He donned a Mongolian military Brown 4-Color Arid Camouflage BDU with a Blackhawk Industries-made tactical vest over it. He had his balaclava already worn to conceal his identity.

"Yeah." Kyle sighed. "Don't worry about me, Caroline." He slinged a Dirección General de Industria Militar del Ejército (DGIME) FX-05 carbine on his left shoulder after removing the original 3x reflex sight and replaced it with an Aimpoint-made red dot sight. Next, he took a Sig Sauer SIG Pro SP 2022 pistol and inserted a 15-round magazine and pulled the slide back.

"I see." Caroline watched Kyle place the SP 2022 on his vest. He then took a Manurhin MR73 Gendarmerie revolver. Removing the chamber, Kyle slapped it and watched it spin before he slapped it back on the weapon; satisfied that the sidearm had six .357 magnum bullets on. "So you're fine with this mission?"

"Yeah." Kyle holstered the MR73 Gendarmerie on his left revolver leg holster. "I mean these Jeish al-Iraq guys dared to kidnap humanitarians while doing their work." Caroline noticed that he was venting his anger. "What they've done is unforgivable..."

"That's not the time to be like that." Caroline placed a comforting hand on Kyle's left shoulder. "The mission directed to us from ASE Jordan's still in the air, remember that."

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, yeah I understand."

"Come on." Caroline escorted Kyle towards the outskirts. "They're waiting for you outside..."

"Good luck." Pru called out to Kyle.

"Yeah, good luck." Box called out to Kyle as well.

Kyle nodded to the two MI5 officers, who followed Caroline outside.

* * *

Outskirts of Aircraft Hangar, Domestic Terminal, Erbil International Airport, Erbil, Iraq

* * *

"Been doing something with Caroline in there?" Henno was waiting outside the hangar next to the Land Rover Weapons Mount Installation Kit (WMIK or Wimik by British soldiers). Owl was busy sleeping on the Wimik's front passenger seat with Satoru checking out to make sure the Wimik was working, having a shemagh worn over his head. Johnny and Dotsy were in a 2004 Hyundai Galloper, parked behind the Wimik. Alex and Sam were in the Wimik's rear cab, sharing jokes with each other.

"Very funny, Henno..." Caroline laughed sarcastically. Henno saw Dempsey speaking with Nogami and Goh, both men being next to a unmarked Mitsubishi Type 73 light truck. "I'll see you guys later, yeah?"

"Yeah." Henno nodded.

"Kyle." Caroline called Kyle's attention as Henno climbed aboard the Wimik.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure that you get Jamie out okay? He's my friend and I don't want to loose him..."

Kyle nodded to Caroline. "Understood."

Caroline smiled before she entered the Galloper with Box and Pru.

* * *

In Land Rover Wimik, en route to unknown destination, Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Louie sat down on the driver's seat with Satoru sharing a seat next to him. At the back, Owl was sleeping his head off as he was in front of the mounted Manroy M2 Heavy machine gun. Henno was seated next to Kyle, who unsheated his Klewang machete from his belt sheath to check the blade before he replaced it back. Alex and Sam were next to Henno, dozing off to get some rest. The Galloper and Type 73 light truck followed the Wimik from behind.

"So what's your story?" Henno asked Kyle. "How'd you become a part of ASE?"

"You did know of PAL 534, right?" Kyle asked the SAS commando.

"Yeah, I did." Henno replied. "Heard it was shot down _accidentally _by the Indonesian Army by a mobile SAM vehicle during their anti-guerrilla operations in East Timor when the plane was en route to Manila from Sydney."

"When I came to, I saw Indonesian soldiers trying to cover up the scene by making it look like FALINTIL forces were responsible for it. I can't remember how, but I do know that they were planting evidence around the crash site to suggest FALINTIL did it on purpose and tried to prove that they were either trying to shoot down FALINTIL-linked aircraft or FALINTIL shot down PAL 534 on purpose."

"What happened afterwards?"

"Some Indonesian soldiers spotted me. I don't know who they were, they had different rifles. They tried to take a shot at me since they saw me get up, but they were shot from behind."

"And that's when FALINTIL took you in and trained you as an anti-Indonesian guerrilla?"

Kyle sighed and nodded. "I later found out that the soldiers in the crash site were Kopassus. I also found out that my parents didn't survive the crash."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Henno patted Kyle's right shoulder.

"Not your fault." Kyle shook his head. "In 2001, I left East Timor with some Red Cross personnel, after they told me that a friend of my father was working with ASE." He stared at the desert as he sat down in the Wimik. "It was sad really; the FALINTIL was my only family until then. I started training with Owl and some other specialists like Dotsy and Johnny for a few years. I met Caroline after my training with them and we're friends now."

Henno then asked Kyle. "Did you had a first operation?"

"I had." Kyle answered. "In 2004, I was involved in an operation to free hostages in my hometown of soldiers held hostage by New People's Army rebels somewhere in Luzon. I forgot where." The masked ASE firearms specialist massaged his temples. "I infiltrated the camp with Satoru before he caused a ruckus by using some of the NPA's vehicles as a distraction while I freed the hostages."

"That was... interesting. So did you handle it well?"

"You mean if I had troubles after I killed someone?" Kyle shook his head. "Nah." He then stared at Henno. "It seems like you did this a lot of times already. Did you kill someone outside your mission parameters before?"

_I guess killing Captain Ian Macalwain does count..._

"I guess silence means yes." Kyle chuckled, as Henno did the same. "Anyhow. What happened during the mission wasn't according to plan, but it helped anyway."

"I see. Well, it looks like I'll be working with you for this mission." Henno reached his right hand to shake hands with Kyle. "So we better do our best here."

"Likewise." Kyle shook hands, taking a firm grip on the bald man's right hand.

"We're here, Henno!" Louie yelled to Henno, beginning to decelerate the Wimik.

"By the way, I didn't ask your age." Henno turned his head to speak to Kyle.

Kyle smirked under his mask. "I'm 17 turning 18, same age as Ikaruga."

* * *

2nd Floor, abandoned commercial building, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Louie, Alex and Sam were the first to dismount from the Wimik with Henno coming down next from the vehicle after parking it in an abandoned 2-story commercial building in a deserted district somewhere in Erbil, gathering their gear and wearing their SAS Windproof smocks in Desert DPM camouflage before they got their Web-Tex Desert DPM combat vests on with their SAS Desert smocks underneath them. The 4-man SAS team attached leg holsters for either their left or right legs. Satoru, Kyle and Owl followed the SAS operators out of the Wimik.

"Looks like they're getting ready as well." Alex saw that 3-men teams from the 707th SMB, ARW and the SOG in the building were preparing their own weapons and equipment for the mission after the 4 SAS operators went to the 2nd floor with their vests already worn. A small team of American soldiers were present, providing communications assistance to Pru and Box on the 1st floor in one of the building's storage rooms. Caroline stayed outside, monitoring the cordoned streets with some English-speaking Peshmerga fighters.

"I hope we still all remember the plan." Henno spoke after Alex, Sam, Louie had gathered up with Johnny, Dotsy, Owl, Satoru and Kyle next to them.

"Johnny and I will provide sniper coverage of the area near the abandoned mansion." said Dotsy, as he and Johnny wore tan BDUs with matching tactical vests of the same color. The two ex-British SAS personnel had Heckler & Koch PSG-1 sniper rifles with 20-round magazines slinged on their right shoulders.

"Right you are." Henno replied, agreeing with Dotsy's assessment. "Ikaruga will help us breach the gates leading to the mansion."

"I found an abandoned bulldozer nearby, so it should be easy." Satoru smirked, raising his thumbs up.

"I'll go ahead first and pop in a sleep grenade in the mansion's vents." Owl pointed his left thumb to himself. "I made it myself, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea since the hostages in the basement level may get out cold for an hour or so."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Box told the _proclaimed_ infiltration specialist. "We've confirmed that the hostages are in a storage room in the basement without any kind of ventilation according to the wounded prisoner."

"Okay." Owl nodded. "Sounds good." He patted the black bandanna on his head.

"When Owl's gone with the sleep grenade," Henno told the gathered SAS and ASE operators, after Nogami, Goh and Coogan had arrived without their needed combat gear yet. "Satoru will ram the gate wide open and we'll get behind it to provide some cover in case some stragglers would spot him and open fire."

"We'll split our forces after we get to the entrance." Coogan was the next to debrief the operators one last time. "My group will take the west. Goh's from the south and Nogami's from the east."

Nogami then spoke to Henno. "I guess that means you'll be in charge of the rear." Henno nodded.

"We'll go in and provide support for whoever needs it anyway." Kyle shrugged his shoulders, pointing to himself and Henno.

"That appears to be fine." Goh replied. "Now if you would us," said the South Korean 707th SMB operator, referring to himself, Nogami and Coogan. "we need to prepare our respective teams for the assault."

* * *

Outskirts of Abandoned Commercial Building, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Caroline saw that Henno, Louie, Alex and Sam emerged from the building, with their weapons at hand. Henno had a Colt M16A2 assault rifle with a Colt M203 underbarrel grenade launcher. Louie and Alex had Diemaco C8 Special Forces Weapon (SFW) compact rifles, designated as L119A1. Sam had a Diemaco C8 carbine with an ACOG scope instead of using an Elcan scope. They all had Sig Sauer P226 pistols on their leg holsters. The SOG, SMB and ARW squads had their comms working after they had their earpieces placed in the auditory canals of their respective ears and heard radio chatter.

"Looks like you guys are ready, eh Henno?" Caroline greeted Henno, the latter smirked at the brown-haired woman.

"Wouldn't I be? We're about to get Jamie and the others back as well as with the humanitarians."

"I know." Caroline nodded. "I just hope they can get home after this operation's over..."

"Don't worry Caroline." Sam placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder. "We'll make it through this."

Kyle, Owl and Satoru emerged out of the building, already prepared for the combat operation. While Kyle had his FX-05 at the ready, Owl had his Armtech FAL SAS carbine slinged on his back with his Sig Sauer P225 fitted with a 10-round extended magazine instead of his Sig Sauer P230 since either its .32/.380 ACP cartridge is not enough to wound the armed Jeish al-Iraq militiamen if some were able to survive being gassed to sleep by Owl's custom-made sleep grenade.

"Wish us luck Caroline." Kyle donned a black 1st Scout Ranger Regiment beret on.

"Yeah. Be careful out there."

"Don't worry about us, Caroline." assured Satoru, smiling at the British woman.

"Come on you guys." Alex called on the three ASE operators. "Our friends are waiting for us near the bulldozer."

Indeed they were; For starters, Nogami's SOG squad had balaclavas and boonie hats on, though two operators of the team chose to have their lightweight caps as part of their headgear. Nogami and one of the SOG team members chose to arm themselves with Colt M4A1s with SOPMOD Block I modifications of various kinds, though the two had handgrips on the rifle's foregrip. The other two had Howa Type 89 rifles with Aimpoint scopes on a mounted Picatinny railing; one of them had a custom handgrip on the foregrip and the other rifle had a modification to house the M203. The entire team had Heckler & Koch USP9s as their sidearms.

Goh's 707th SMB squad were armed with various Daewoo-made firearms and had ROK 3-Color Desert baseball caps on with one opting to forego it. Goh and one of the SMB operators were armed with armed with Daewoo K1A1 outfitted with different Picatinny railings on the foregrip and the receiver, configured with different torches and scopes with Goh's K1A1 having a custom handgrip. The second operator armed himself with a Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun with hatton rounds already loaded with the third armed with a Daewoo K2 assault rifle with a Daewoo K201 underbarrel grenade launcher. They were using either HK USP9 or Israel Military Industries Jericho 941F pistols for sidearms.

As for Coogan's ARW squad, they either had Irish Desert DPM boonies or lightweight caps on for headgear. Coogan and an ARW operator were armed with Steyr AUG A1 carbines. The second one had a HK 53 assault carbine and the third armed himself with a Steyr AUG rifle attached with a Diemaco M203A1 underbarrel grenade launcher.

"Let's move out!" Satoru hopped onto the Komatsu D575A-3SD while Owl began a solo infiltration mission to the mansion half a block away from their location.

**"Snipers one and two are in position."** reported Johnny from the rooftop of a building near the mansion, as he was conducting surveillance with Dotsy to check if any enemy movement was around. Henno led his SAS team first behind the bulldozer, followed by Coogan's. Goh's was next with Nogami taking the rear before Kyle took his position next to Henno. The special ops forces waited until Ikaruga was able to turn on the bulldozer, leading the way for the teams in order to serve as their armored protection.

**"Stage 1, people." **The assault teams heard Dempsey on the radio, who had probably arrived in the area by another route to maintain secrecy of his presence as SAS commanding officer. **"Standby. Standby. Standby. And...go."**

* * *

Front Garden, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

KRAAMMM!

The Komatsu D575-3SD had smashed its way to the locked gate, similar to the raid on the ex-South Vietnamese Imperial Palace in the Fall of Saigon in 1975 except a Soviet T-54 tank was used to breach the palace's gates.

"Thanks, Ikaruga!" Kyle leaped out of the bulldozer's cabin, having seen the teams converge on the mansion in their assigned positions. Owl came towards the bulldozer, having his FAL SAS carbine at the ready.

"I've managed to get the sleep grenade going." Owl said, with Satoru pulling out the bulldozer as it wasn't needed for the assault. "Though I'm not sure if the ones in the basement were affected..."

"Alright." Kyle and Owl rushed to the mansion, moments after the teams had infiltrated the mansion, working to clear each of the rooms and rescue the hostages...

* * *

Basement, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

"Careful now."

Henno and Louie were the first ones to enter the basement of the mansion, having the ARW, SOG and SMB teams clear the upper floors while they used plasticuffs on the unconscious JeI insurgents. Alex and Sam were next, covering the backs of the two SAS operators.

"Seems that everything's quiet around here..." Louie whispered to Alex, who nodded in agreement.

"Keep your guard up." Henno whispered to his squadmates, reminding them of the mission. The 4-man team had just walked 5 meters away from the basement staircase when an armed JeI insurgent with an IZHMASH AKM assault rifle came out of one of the storage rooms, forcing Henno and Louie to open fire.

"Dammit!" Louie cursed, having fired the initial shots from his C8 SFW rifle at the insurgent. "Looks like Owl's sleep grenade didn't incapacitate the ones down here!"

"Fire! Fire!" Henno ducked behind some metal drumcans with Louie. The Leonard brothers took cover behind an empty storage room adjacent to Henno's position.

**"What's happening down there?!"** Caroline called Henno on his radio.

**"This is Alpha Leader! We're pinned down in B1-1!" **Henno replied. **"Some of the JeI insurgents in the basement level weren't incapacitated from the sleep grenade." **He saw the Leonard brothers advance after Sam fired his C8 carbine at the JeI insurgents coming from one of the corridors nearby, allowing Alex to take the lead and advance.

**"Beyond the corridor you are in takes you to the mansion's garage." **Pru told Henno, after he had fired a 40mm HE grenade from his M203, clearing the path for them to advance.

**"Can we get some help here?" **Alex asked, taking cover behind a parked 2003 Toyota Hilux pickup after he came out of the corridor leading to the garage. Henno and Louie were next to the Tamil SAS operator, firing from behind the pickup's engine block.

**"We're getting some reports from the Peshmerga fighters that a group of JeI insurgents with a technical are approaching your position!" **Box had informed the SAS squad of the latest update. **"They've just breached the perimeter..."**

"Isn't that just our luck?" Sam sighed, getting prone next to Alex and firing his C8 SFW rifle at any visible JeI insurgent.

* * *

Front Garden, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

"What the hell?" Owl and Kyle emerged out of the mansion, seeing a portion of the mansion's eastern wall breached with an unknown device. From the smoke, several JeI armed with AK rifles of various makes with some Heckler & Koch G3s in the mix emerged and engaged the two ASE agents.

"Crap!" Kyle went prone and fired his FX-05 carbine, hitting two of the insurgents as they dropped dead on their backs. An RPG-7-armed insurgent fired the PG-7 warhead, but missed as the warhead went straight for the roof.

"An RPG!" Owl muttered, having aimed and fired his FAL SAS at the RPG-armed insurgent. The insurgent spasmed when he went on his knees, having been shot in the stomach by Owl before the insurgent collapsed with his face down. "I just hate those things when they're used against us."

Suddenly, a 2003 Toyota technical armed with a mounted 12.7 DShKM anti-aircraft machine gun roared through the breached wall. The JeI insurgent riding its flatbed was about to fire it when a 40 mm HE grenade landed on it, destroying the vehicle and killing some of the JeI insurgents near the technical.

The two ASE operators saw that an ARW Special Reconnaisance vehicle (SRV), an off-road vehicle developed from Ford's F-350 pickups, rushed in the garden with its flatbed-mounted Heckler & Koch Grenade Machine Gun (GMG)'s barrel smoking as it was the culprit responsible for destroying it.

"Thanks!" Owl yelled, waving to the ARW operators when some 5.45 bullets flew over his head. "Dammit! I'm heading back inside!"

The ferocious gunfire from the breached wall, half aimed at the SRV, forced the ARW opreator at the GMG to dismount and fire his HK 53 carbine from behind the vehicle. The driver went down after being shot in the right shoulder, making him collapse on the ground.

Its only defense was from the front passenger, who fired its mounted FN MAG GPMG at the insurgents. Its firepower had somehow forced some of them to retreat.

From the nearby rooftops, Johnny and Dotsy provided sniper overwatch by firing their PSG-1s at any visible JeI militant that hasn't tried to enter the mansion from the breached wall.

* * *

Garage, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

"We're getting pinned here!" yelled Louie, haivng tossed an M67 frag grenade at JeI insurgents that had charged at the garage. Its explosion had taken out a few JeI insurgents, with Henno firing another 40 mm HE grenade from his M203. The two took cover again in front of the Hilux's engine bloc, as the 4 SAS operators had been using for the past few minutes.

"We need to get to the hostages!" Alex yelled, firing his C8 SFW at the doorway leading to another part of the basement as fewer and fewer JeI insurgents were emerging out of it.

"You and Louie get inside and get the hostages!" Sam yelled, kneeling to reload his C8 carbine. "We'll take care of things here!"

Alex nodded, patting Louie on his right shoulder to get him to follow his lead as the two SAS operators charged out of the garage to another part of the basement.

* * *

1st Floor, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

The situation was beginning to get worse for the rescue team as the JeI insurgents had started to take control of the mansion's first floor, not willing to abandon their hostages to the SAS, SOG, ARW or SMB rescue teams nor to the ASE agents. They had been, so far, able to hold out from the 2nd floor.

"This is getting nowhere!" shouted Goh, aiming the mounted Aimpoint on his K1A1 at any insurgent he spotted from the main staircase. His M4-armed squadmate fired every buckshot from his shotgun, lethally taking down any JeI insurgent that tried to approach them.

"Hrahhh!" One of the ARW operators fired the M203A1 from his Steyr AUG, sending a 40 mm HE grenade at five IZHMASH AK-74-armed insurgents. The explosion took them all out in an instant.

"I owe you one!" Goh thanked the ARW operator, who stopped to reload his K1A1 carbine.

Goh saw, from the staircase, that his fellow SMB operators together with the others from the ARW and the SOG had been firing their weapons from the floor above them as it was shaped as a square for anyone from the 2nd floor to see the floor below. Though the position was strategic, it was exposed that JeI insurgents could clearly get a target or fire an RPG rocket at them.

* * *

2nd Floor, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

"Don't let them up!" yelled Coogan, who fired his AUG at any JeI soldier that he can see.

"Banzai!" Nogami yelled with all his might, firing his M4A1 SOPMOD at the insurgents on the floor from above without any fear of being hit. His SOG squadmates joined in to conduct more suppressive fire at their enemy, only stopping to reload. The K2-armed SMB operator fired a 40 mm HE grenade from his K201 with Owl and Kyle tossing M67 grenades at the hole where the JeI insurgents had breached for their entryway. Loud voices of screaming in Arabic had been heard, which allowed the M4-armed SMB operator to again fire his weapon after he had reloaded. Goh and Nogami followed it with more suppresive fire from their squadmates before the ARW operator on the staircase fired his M203A1 again with the same HE grenade.

* * *

2nd Floor, Abandoned Commercial Building, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

**"Is everything alright there?" **Dempsey tried to raise Henno on his radio. Pru and Box checked on radio chatter from the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Police Services with Caroline speaking to the American soldiers on the situation.

**"I'm alright, boss." **Henno came on the radio. **"Lot of JeI militants tried to storm the mansion. Even had a technical brought for the party..."**

**"Is the stronghold secure? I repeat, is the stronghold secured?"**

* * *

Basement, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

In another section of the basement, which mainly consists of a wide open space with a single storage room, Alex and Louie approached it carefully until they were able to confirm that no JeI insurgents were around. Louie gestured to Alex to take the right side of the doorframe while he would take the left.

"Alright." Alex whispered, having been in position.

"One, two and three..." Louie whispered, counting he nodded to Alex. The latter stood in front of the door and kicked it hard with his left foot, Louie then aimed his C8 SFW inside and sweeped it when he saw the the hostages were tied up with their hands and legs bounded by rope. In addition, their eyes were covered with cloth, limiting their vision. Both the SAS and the MSF/PSCI hostages were still alive, though weak and tired.

"Who the hell did that?" Jamie asked, hearing Alex kick the door.

"Dangit!" cursed Ricky. "Can't you see that we're trying to get some peace here?"

**"Alpha 3 to base." **Alex went on the radio. **"Alpha 3 to base. Packages are secured. I repeat, the packages are secured."**

* * *

Garage, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Henno and Sam gave other grins, seeing that they were victorious over the JeI. The former went to reload his M16A2 and the used 40 mm HE grenade shell from his M203.

"It looks like we'll be getting Jamie, Ricky and Pete back after all." smirked Sam, who had reloaded his C8 carbine.

"I could say the same thing." Henno stood up from ducking behind the front engine of the Hilux and went to check the corpses by shooting a few bullets at them.

Unknown to him or Sam, the door behind them creaked open for a wounded JeI insurgent to aim his AK-74 at them. Loud gunshots were heard, making Sam and Henno turn around to see the insurgent collapse on the ground.

"Good thing you came to save us today." Sam saw Owl and Kyle, the latter armed with his MR73 Gendarmerie on his left hand and his SP 2022 on his right hand. He had apparently fired his sidearms in unison against the wounded insurgent.

"It's a good thing we were here when he came to check up on you guys..." chuckled Owl, having slinged his FAL SAS. Henno simply rolled his eyes in disgust over his boastfulness.

"Henno!"

Louie yelled, emerging from the garage's right side door, escorting one of the MSF doctors after he and Alex had freed the hostages from their bonds.

"Hey, Henno..." Pete said weakly, which was hinted in his Scottish accent, being helped by Alex. Henno and Sam noted that the SAS hostages wore civies and had bare feet only.

"Welcome back guys." Henno smiled for the first time at his SAS comrades. "Welcome back."

* * *

Front Garden, Abandoned Mansion, somewhere in Erbil, Iraq

* * *

Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi National Police officers cordoned the outskirts and the garden of the mansion, while SMB and ARW operators were busy handling the restrained JeI operators. A 5-man team of National Police officers went inside the mansion, AKMs at the ready.

Iraqi Red Crescent personnel were busy tending to the MSF/PSCI hostages with Jamie, Ricky and Pete talking to Alex, Sam and Louie.

"So we heard that Johnny, Dotsy and Caroline are with ASE now huh?" Jamie asked Henno, who came towards them with Kyle, Satoru and Owl.

"Yep." Henno grinned. "More importantly, these guys here were responsible for helping you."

"I see." Pete extended his arm out to shake hands with Kyle. "Then I guess we owe your lives to you?"

"No worries." Kyle shook hands with Pete. "It's our job."

"Job nothing." replied Jamie. "Just the fact that we're alive is enough for us." Satoru, followed by Owl, then shook hands with Pete, Jamie and Ricky.

"Can't wait to get back on active duty." Ricky spoke to Henno. "Nice to see some old faces around here. They love it, they do. They love it."

"I'm sure the boss is itching to get you three back on active duty." Henno smirked.

"I agree too." added Alex. The SAS operators and the ASE agents chatted for a while before they were greeted by Pru, Box and Dempsey.

THE END

PS - I kinda forgot who sent me the challenge to do an AU based on Deadlier than the Male, but to whoever did so thanks. I'm placing Alex Leonard here since in my previous fic, he didn't leave the SAS as Sam was saved and his presence's here too since he recovered from the wound he received from the bank robber's shotgun in episode 1 (Hopefully, I did it right). For the combat scenes here, I was inspired by episode 12, Dead is Forever when Macalwain and Henno lead an assault on an abandoned mining facility against the pro-government militiamen in terms of the appearances of the SAS, SOG, 707th SMB and the ARW and the weapons used, though I chose not to put LMGs since they are fighting in a building and not on long term street battles. It's all fun and games when I did this, so yeah... Nothing much, except that I ask to those who read to review it when they're done and let me know how it went. Let me know if I made any mistakes. Thanks and have a good day...

Some of the other characters you'll see here are from the manga D-Live! except for Kyle since he's an OC, as well as the other operators from the ARW, SOG and the 707th SMB. Translations are available from Genesis Scanlations via for the meantime since there's no official English publication outside Japan.

Dirección General de Industria Militar del Ejército, well the translation I got is Army Military Defense Industries. DOD stands for Ireland's Department of Defence. JDA is the Japan Defense Agency of Japan and the MND is South Korea's Ministry of National Defence.

Anyhow, wondering if anyone would like to do a fic on Captain Ian Macalwain's death since it wasn't explored on by the end of Season 2. It's a challenge I'd like to throw you guys on.


End file.
